Gun-cooling mechanism



Oct. 26, 1954 5. J. FINN GUN-COOLING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 3, 1946 GUN-COOLING MECHANISM Filed June 3, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Oct. 26, 1954 s. J. FINN 2,692,533

GUN-COOLING MECHANISM Filed June a, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet s ILTIIIIIIJirwmwiwr 15 zdrpey Jiz nn Oct. 26, 1954 5. J. FINN 'COOLING MECHANISMGUN 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 5, 1946 Patented Oct. 26, 1954 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE GUN COOLING MECHANISM Application June 3, 1946,Serial No. 673,920

3 Claims.

This application relates to mechanisms for cooling guns and isillustrated herein as applied to a gun of the type illustrated anddescribed in application for Letters Patent of the United States, SerialNo. 655,704, filed March 20, 1946, in my name. In order to increase theeffectiveness of guns of large caliber, automatic loading mechanisms maybe applied thereto which permit a greater increase in the rate of fireover that possible with hand loading. The intense heat developed withinthe gun imposes limitations on the number of rounds that may be fired inrapid succession without causing serious damage to the gun. Accordingly,in order to maintain all the advantages gained by rapid fire, provisionmust be made for withdrawing the excessive heat from the gun to permitit to be fired in rapid succession over a substantial period of time.

With this in view, it is an object of the present invention to providean improved automaticallyoperated cooling means for substantiallyreducing the temperature of the gun between successive firingoperations. To this end and in accordance with a feature of theinvention, a cooling medium is supplied into the interior of the gunthrough a nozzle which is mounted for movement into and out of alinementwith the bore of the gun, there being means for automatically moving thenozzle into alinement with the bore of the gun in response to movementof the gun in counter-recoil. This movement of the nozzle opens a valveby which the cooling medium is supplied through the nozzle to the gun,after which the valve is closed and the nozzle is moved into a positionat one side of the gun in response to op' eration of mechanism by whichthe gun is loaded. Consequently the nozzle moves into alinement with thebore of the gun by the time the gun returns to battery but moves out ofthe way of the loading mechanism in response to operation of thismechanism so that no time is lost in the operation of the gun byoperation of the cooling mechanism.

The above and other features of the invention, including various detailsof construction and novel combinations of parts will now be described byreference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the breech end of a gun provided withloading mechanism of the type illustrated and described in theaforementioned application, with the present invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation partly in section, and

2 on a larger scale, of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section through the nozzle assembly by which cooling fluidis introduced into the bore of the gun;

Fig. 4 is a detail view partly in section of a portion of the mechanismby which the nozzle is operated;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the nozzle of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 onan enlarged scale;

Fig. 7,.is a section on the line VIIVII of Fig. l, and

Fig. 8 is a section on the line VIII-N111 of Fig. 7.

The invention is illustrated as applied to a gun Iii mounted in acarriage l2 which is in turn carried by a support [4. It will beunderstood that during firing of the gun it will move relatively to thecarriage I2 in recoil and counterrecoil. The carriage includes a pair ofplates I6, only one of which is illustrated, extending rearwardly of thegun at opposite sides thereof and these plates support a magazine [8(Figs. 1 and 2) in which are provided feed sprockets 2D, 22 arranged tofeed shells into a central position in the magazine. A transfer tray 24receives the shells upon their movement into the central position andcarries them rearwardly and downwardly and then forwardly into thebreech of the gun. The transfer tray is carried by two sets of parallelarms 26 and 28 which are operated by mechanism driven by a motor 39 tomove the tray downwardly in the loading operation at the proper time.The mechanism thus far described is similar to that illustrated anddescribed in my copending application referred to above to whichreference may be made for a detailed description thereof. It will beunderstood that in so far as the present invention is concerned theparticular mechanism by which the gun is loaded is immaterial, the oneshown being merely by way of example.

In order to cool the gun a cooling medium which may be in the form ofwater or any other suitable fiuid is delivered through the breech intothe bore of the gun in the interval between return movement of the gunto battery and the subsequent loading operation. For this purpose anozzle 32 (Fig. 3) is carried by the lower end of a tubular support 34which is pivoted for swinging movement transversely of the guns axiswhereby the nozzle may be swung into alinement with the bore of the gunas indicated by the broken lines in Fig. 2 in order to deliver a streamof cooling fluid thereto, the nozzle with its supporting tube normallyoccupying a generally vertical position at one side of the gun as shownby the full lines in Fig. 2 in which it will not interfere with theoperation of the gun. The up per end of the supporting tube 30 isprovided with a pivot 30 journaled in a plate 38 secured to the guncarriage just rearwardly of the breech end of the gun when the gun is inbattery position, the support 34 having an extension 30 (Fig. 3) coaxialwith the pivot 30 and having a fluid tight swivel connection 4 with apipe 42. This pipe is carried by spaced plates MI, 36 secured to thecarriage, and to the forward end of the pipe 52 is connected a hose 08(Fig. 1) which is in turn connected with a source of fluid. The tubularsupport 34 is provided with valves to be described which control theflow of fluid from the pipe 32 into the nozzle 32 in such a manner thatfluid is delivered from the nozzle only when the nozzle is in alinementwith the bore of the gun.

For swinging the support 34 from its retracted position into itsoperative position the tubular extension 38 has secured to it a crankarm 50 (Fig. 4) which is connected by links 52, 53 to a forwardlyextending arm 50 (Fig. l) of a bell crank lever 56. This lever ispivoted on a pin 58 carried by one of the side plates I6 and has adownwardly extending arm 50 to which is secured one end of a spring 62the other end of which is secured at 04 to the plate IS. The spring 62exerts a force on the lever 56 tending to move it in a clockwisedirection to swing the nozzle and its supporting tube into operativeposition.

In order to prevent this movement of the bell crank lever 58 until theproper time in the cycle of operations a latch 60 is arranged tounderlie the forward end of the arm 54 of the bell crank lever. Thislatch is journaled on a shaft 68 (Fig. '7) which extends throughopposite sides of the plate It and on its inner end has secured to it asupport I for a pawl I2 pivoted thereto. This pawl is normallymaintained in the position shown in Fig. 8 relatively to the support I0by a spring 74 extending between an ear IS on the pawl and an ear IS onthe support. Secured to the outer end of the shaft 68 is an upwardlyextending arm 8 carrying a spring-pressed detent 82 arranged to enter ahole 80 (Fig. 7) thereby to connect the pawl support and the latch 06for conjoint movements. The detent is provided with a handle 85 by whichthe detent may be retracted for a purpose described below.

Carried by the breech housing of the gun is a lug 80 (Figs. 1, 2 and 6)the path of which, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 6, is such as toengage the upper end of the pawl I2 upon movement of the gun incounter-recoil. This movement of the pawl by the lug 38 causes the latch66 to he moved against the action of a spring 90 acting between thelower end of the latch and the plate I 6. The upper end of the latch istherefore moved out of engagement with the forward end of the arm 54 ofthe bell crank lever 56 whereupon the spring 62 moves the lever in aclockwise direction to swing the nozzle into alinement with the bore ofthe gun. The position to which the nozzle is swung is controlled by astop 92 (Fig. 6) with which a projection 94 of the arm 54 engages. Ahandle 95 is carried by the lower end of the latch 68 to facilitatemanual operation of the latch if desired.

As soon as the nozzle is moved into alinement with the bore of the gun,water or other cooling medium is supplied therefrom into the gun. The

4 flow of fluid through the tube 34 is controlled in the first instanceby a valve element 06 (Fig. 3) which has a loose sliding fit in atubular portion 98 of the tube 34. The lower end of this valve elementis conical and is normally held against a valve seat I06 by the pressureof the fluid above the valve element, the space above the valve elementcommunicating with the source of fluid by reason of the loose fit of theelement in the tubu lar portion 08. It will be apparent that the area ofthe valve at its lower end which is exposed to the pressure of thefluid, is smaller than the area at its upper end, inasmuch as thatportion of the valve at its lower end within the valve seat I00 is notexposed to the fluid pressure. The valve element 96 is provided with alongitudinal passageway I02 providing communication between the oppositeends of the valve element, the upper end of the passageway beingnormally closed by a valve member I04 which is held in fluid-tightengagement witha seat I06 at the top of the valve element 96, by aspring I01. When the valve member I04 is lifted from the seat I06 thefluid above the valve element 86 escapes through the passageway I02 sothat the pressure of the fluid above the valve element immediately dropsand the pressure of the fluid below the valve element is then suflicientto mOVe the valve element upwardly. This movement of the valve element98 occurs with extreme rapidity upon upward movement of the valve memberI04 whereupon fluid flows downwardly through the tube 34, the pressureopening a valve I08 at the lower end of the tubular support 34.

The valve I08 includes astem H0 slidable in the tubular portion of a capIIZ which closes the lower end of the tube 34. A spring H4 maintains thevalve I08 against a seat I IS, the arrangement being such thatimmediately upon movement of the valve element 96 into engagement withthe seat I00 the pressure within the tubular support 34 dropssufliciently so that the valve I08 closes, preventing further flow offluid through the nozzle 32. As soon, however, as the valve element 96moves upwardly, the pressure of the fluid opens the valve I00 so thatthe nozzle 32 is supplied with fluid.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 5 the nozzle 32 is provided with a vaned insertH8 which provides a central passageway I20 through the nozzle and aplurality of helical passageways I22 between the insert and the interiorof the nozzle. These helical passageways impart to the fluid a swirlingaction so that the fluid will follow the rifling in the interior of thegun and all portions of the interior will be contacted thereby to imparta uniform cooling action. In addition to this the fluid through thecentral passageway I20 more quickly reaches the muzzle end of the gun itbeing understood that the length of time that the fluid is beingdelivered into the gun lbetween firing operations is, in the normaloperation of the gun, very short and may be of the order of only a smallfraction of a second.

Pivoted to a bracket I24 (Figs. 3 and 4) extending upwardly from thetubular support 34 is a bell crank lever I26 one end of which is pivotedat I28 to an upwardly extending stem I30 of the valve memberIM. Theother arm of the bell crank lever is arranged, during movement of thenozzle into operative position, to move into engagement with a stop I32which is held by a spring I34 in an extended position within a supportI36. Upon movement of the upper end of the lever I26 into engagementwith the stop I32, followed by continued movement of the support 34 tocarry the nozzle into alinement with the bore of the gun, the lever I26moves in a counterclockwise direction thereby lifting the valve memberI64 whereupon the valve element 96 is lifted and the fluid flows pastthe valve I68 and through the nozzle into the bore of the gun.

The support I36 is pivoted at I38 in the outer end of a bracket I46supported by the carriage, this bracket carrying a plunger I42 urgeddownwardly by a spring I24 into engagement with the support I36 therebyto maintain it normally in the position shown in Fig. 4. It may bedesirable to shut oif the supply of fluid to the nozzle 32 particularlyif the gun it not immediately loaded in which event the nozzle wouldremain in alinement with the bore of the gun, as will become apparent asthe description proceeds. For this purpose the support I36 is providedwith a handle M6 by means of which the operator may move the support ina clockwise direction against the action of the plunger I52 so as tomove the stop I32 out of engagement with the upper end of the lever I26.Accordingly, the lever may move in a clockwise direction permittingdownward movement of the valve member I64 whereupon the valve element 96moves into closed position by the pressure of the fluid on its uppersurface and the flow through the nozzle 32 is interrupted. This movementof the support I36 during the time that the nozzle is in alinement withthe bore of the gun permits the upper end of the lever I26 to move underthe support whereupon the support will be thus held until the nozzleagain moves into its inoperative position at the beginning of the nextloading operation.

For moving the nozzle and its supporting tube 32 back into the full lineposition of Fig. 2 at the beginning of a loading operation, one of thetray-supporting arms 28 (Fig. 1) has connected to it a cam I56 (Fig. 1)which moves in a counterclockwise direction during the downward movementof the transfer tray 24. During this movement of the cam it engages aroll I52 carried by an arm I52 of the lever 56 whereupon this lever ismoved in a counterclockwise direction against the action of the spring62 until the arm 6!} moves into engagement with a stop I56 mounted onthe plate I6 of the carriage I2. Inasmuch as the gun is in its batteryposition the lug 86 (Fig. 6) carried thereby is in its broken lineposition so that the latch 66 is free to move under the influence of thespring 90 into locking engagement with the arm 54 of the lever 56.

Should it be desired, the pawl I2 which is actuated by the lug 88 duringcounter-recoil movement of the gun to release the latch 66, may be movedinto an inoperative position thereby rendering the cooling mechanismheretofore described inactive. As shown in Figs. 6 and '7 a spring I58connects the arm 86 with the depending portion of the latch 66 and tendsto move the arm 89 in a clockwise direction relatively to the latch.Consequently if the detent 82 is withdrawn from the aperture 84 in thelatch 66, the spring I58 will move the arm until the upwardly projectingportion engages a boss I66 on the latch 66 whereupon the shaft 68 turnsrelatively to the latch to carry the pawl 72 into the broken lineposition shown in Fig. 6 in which position the pawl is out of the pathof movement of the lug 88 carried by the gun upon movement of the gun incounter-recoil. The latch 66 is therefore not released during return ofthe gun to battery and the cooling nozzle remains in its inoperativeposition shown in Fig. 2 during firing of the gun.

The operation of the mechanism will now be described starting with theparts in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, it being assumed at thistime that a shell is in the gun and the gun is ready to be fired. Uponfiring the gun it will move in recoil during which movement the lug 88moves toward the left as viewed in Fig 6 passing over' the pawl I2 whichpivots relatively to its support IE but is immediately thereafter movedback into the position shown in Fig. 8 by the action of the spring 72.This action of the awl has no efiect on the latch 66 but upon returnmovement of the gun toward battery position the lug 88 moves in thedirection of the arrow (Fig. 6) engaging the pawl I2 and moving theshaft 68 in a clockwise direction. This shaft, being connected by thearm to the latch 56, moves the latch out of engagement with the arm 54of the lever 56 whereupon the spring 62 moves the lever in a clockwisedirection swinging the nozzle assembly into the broken line positionshown in Fig. 2. As soon as the nozzle moves into this position theengagement of the lever I26 (Fig. 4) with the stop I32 causes the valvemember I04 to move upwardly whereupon the pressure of the fluid movesthe valve element 96 upwardly and the valve I68 downwardly so that thecooling fluid is delivered through the nozzle 32 into the bore of thegun. If the gun is to be continuously fired the loading tray 24 willalmost immediately thereafter start to move downwardly carrying anothershell intoramming position. During this movement, cam I56 (Fig. 1) actson the roll I 52 to move the lever 56 in a counterclockwise direction,retracting the nozzle assembly whereupon spring I0! (Fig. 3) moves thevalve member I24 downwardly closing the passageway through the valveelement 96 and the pressure of the fluid on top of this valve elementwill immediately cause it to move into closing position. The subsequentdrop of pressure below the valve element 96 will permit the valve I08 tobe moved by the spring I I4 into closed position shutting off all flowof fluid through the nozzle 32 so that no fluid drips therefrom.

From the above it will be seen that the operation of the coolingmechanism takes place between movement of the gun into battery positionand the succeeding loading operation so that no time is lost by reasonof the operation of this mechanism. By supplying cooling fluid to theinterior of the gun between each firing thereof the gun may be firedrapidly over a long period of time without danger of undue heatingthereof such as might cause serious damage to the gun.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a gun, a carriage in which said gun is mounted formovements in recoil and counter-recoil, a nozzle carried by saidcarriage for introducing a cooling medium into the gun, means connectingsaid nozzle to said carriage for lateral swinging movements into and outof alinement with the bore of the gun, and means operative in responseto movement of the gun in counter-recoil for swinging said nozzle intoalinement with the bore of the gun.

2. In combination, a gun, a carriage in which said gun is mounted formovements in recoil and counter-recoil, a nozzle carried by saidcarriage for introducing a cooling medium into the gun, means connectingsaid nozzle to said carriage for lateral swinging movements into and outof alinement with the bore of the gun, means operative in response tomovement of the gun in counter-recoil for swinging said nozzle intoalinement with the bore of the gun, and means operative in response tosuch movement of the nozzle for supplying cooling medium therefrom intothe sun.

3. In combination with a gun of the type in which ammunition isautomatically loaded from a magazine associated therewith at theconclusion of each firing operation, a nozzle through which coolingmedium is introduced into the bore of the gun, means mounting saidnozzle for lateral movements into and out of alinement with the bore ofthe gun rearwardly of the breach end of the gun while the gun is inbattery, means operative in response to counterrecoil movement of thegun for swinging said nozzle into alinement with the bore of the gun,means operative in response to such movement of the nozzle for supplyingcooling medium therefrom into the gun, and means operative in responseto loading of the gun for swinging said nozzle into an inoperativeposition out of alinement with the bore of the gun.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

